Environment

Influencer Films Himself On the Back of a Nesting Sea Turtle

The Inertia for Good Editor
Staff

Photo: vadym_oleynik/Instagram

The Inertia

It’s odd that people can spend so much time on social media that it becomes their livelihood, but somehow miss the memo that harassing wild animals is one thing that’s sure to infuriate the internet. A fitness influencer named Vadym Oleynik is the latest culprit. He filmed himself and his partner riding on a sea turtle in a protected turtle sanctuary in Oman.

Oleynik, who reportedly had more than 200,000 followers on Instagram before deleting his account, shared footage of himself sitting on a turtle that was attempting to lay eggs. Footage shows him holding a baby sea turtle at one point as the larger turtle tries to get away. He prevents it from crawling through the sand by sitting on the shell of the wild animal and poses for photos. Oleynik’s partner, Olena Kravchenko, takes a turn on top of the sea turtle and poses for photos too.

Naturally, the internet didn’t react kindly to Oleynik’s video. He reportedly first shut off comments on the video and then eventually deleted his account amid backlash. The Environmental Authority of Oman said in a statement that it had “taken necessary legal action” against Oleynik but did not specify what that action or consequences might include.

A separate post by the account Biologicamente lashed out at Oleynik for his actions while also criticizing local authorities.

“The author has already received a generous dose of insults, he was forced to block the comments section,” the post reads. “But he immediately defended himself, claiming he did nothing wrong, that he didn’t break any laws, that he didn’t behave in the wrong way and that he didn’t stress a wild animal. And you know why they are so convinced they helped a poor turtle?”
“Because they were together with volunteers from an improbable environmentalist foundation that deals with monitoring the deposition of sea turtles, in Oman,” adding that, “An association run in a serious and professional manner, accompanied by a scientific committee, would never allow its volunteers to sit on the shell of a turtle, to take a selfie.”

“I would like to send — first of all — my [apologies to] the Environmental Authority Sultanate of Oman,” he said in a video. “Also for the protection agency of the green sea turtles that I was sitting on.”

Oleynik claimed he had not “seen the rules” and said what he did was a mistake.

“I didn’t want to hurt the turtle or [do] anything bad to it,” he said. “May God bless all of you and forgive me for my mistake. Thank you. Sending you a big hug.”

 
Newsletter

Only the best. We promise.

Contribute

Join our community of contributors.

Apply